


The Ace They Hold

by iantosgal



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-06-27
Packaged: 2017-12-16 08:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/860195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iantosgal/pseuds/iantosgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>They had always known his weakness and Castiel had always known they were just waiting, biding their time before they pulled their last Ace from their sleeves.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ace They Hold

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this picture http://www.google.no/imgres?q=random&hl=no&biw=1366&bih=665&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=nGwPwPmvKmZBZM:&imgrefurl=http://missouri-oneofusislying.blogspot.com/2012/03/random-thoughts-this-sunny-afternnon.html&docid=xUFraOyQI6VgHM&imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cD0mdqrG1VU/T2e1Uqzjo3I/AAAAAAAAASI/4Oki1HXl_WY/s1600/random.jpg&w=760&h=375&ei=0_lxT9_lM8mA8wP_9YUl&zoom=1 
> 
> It was left as a picture prompt on my LJ and the prompter asked for Cas/Dean or Cas/Balthazar...I gave her both.

They had always known his weakness and Castiel had always known they were just waiting, biding their time before they pulled their last Ace from their sleeves.

He could work with Dean, Sam and Bobby to stop the apocalypse till Lucifer was double locked in his cage or the world ended in fire and blood. He could kill angel after angel, he could betray his brothers with every bone in his body until they ripped his grace from him leaving him broken and useless on the floor of some indistinct warehouse or they could drag him kicking and screaming back to heaven, throwing him back into that hell hole they called a house of re-education but at the end of the day, Castiel had always known that it would never come to that.

A part of him screamed that this was wrong. He loved Dean with every bone in this human body he controlled, inhabited but never owned. Every tiny, glowing particle of his grace urged to protect him, to stand beside him and fight against all of Dean’s enemies until his tenuous grip on the world slipped and he finally slipped into the blackness of a sweet oblivion he sometimes longed for, not often but the thought was there in the back of his mind, calling him to a wondrous nothingness.

The same part of him wanted to pull Dean to him and kiss him, tell him how sorry he was that he never mentioned any of this before. He should have told Dean that they had something they could use to control him, something that would make him do anything.

Not something...someone.

They have a wooden chest. It looks plain and old, almost like a piece of junk to the human eye. But to Castiel it is everything. He knows that without that chest, he would have rebelled sooner, he would have told Dean and Sam about Heaven’s two sided nature before Sam had had a chance to open Lucifer’s cage.

But they’d held that chest so enticingly in front of his arms, promised him things that he knew they wouldn’t uphold. He was sickened by how easy it was for them to control him with one simple yet complex and beautiful item.

Dean was staring at him in confusion but Castiel couldn’t tear his eyes away from the chest that rests loosely in Zachariah’s hands and his hands twitch, scared that Zachariah will drop it and damage the precious contents inside.

“Cas?”

Dean’s voice can barely be heard of the thudding of Castiel’s grace as it thunders around his borrowed flesh, yearning and fighting to get close to the chest.

“Cas!”

He hadn’t even noticed that he’d taken a step forward, hadn’t realised he’d fallen to his knees with a thump that shook the bones of his vessel.

Zachariah’s voice thundered through his head, making promises and bargains and Castiel found himself agreeing, hands already reaching for the chest.

His fingers felt the hard wood and the energy that thrummed within it. He felt a sob well in his throat but he fought it down.

Slowly, achingly slowly, Zachariah let go off the chest and let it fall gently into Castiel’s outstretched hands.

He knows, without even turning his head that Dean, Sam and Bobby are staring at him in confusion, horror and with eyes that show the betrayal they felt as they watched their friend and ally knelt before the very people they were supposed to be fighting.

Castiel cradled the chest to his body like a baby and stayed there as Zachariah and his subordinates strode past him.

Then his expression changed. His fingers deftly opened the box and held it away from him as the lid fell open.

The energy that had previously been contained by the chest sparks out in tendrils of brilliant shades of blue. The tendrils curl through the air, reaching out to spread further from the chest and beginning to tumble and twist into a shape that was so familiar to Castiel that his grace began to shine brighter making his vessel glow.

He stood and turned to face the angry and shocked faces of Zachariah and his minions.

“You promised not to let him out until we had taken the Winchesters!” Zachariah screamed.

Castiel tilted his head slightly and the grace that was burning so brightly made his eyes glow and flicker as if flames flickered within.

“I learnt promises from you and you have failed to keep a single promise you have ever made,” he said, his voice no more than a growl as the blue mass shifted and pulsed behind him.

The blue mass began to shine more and more until the humans in the room had to shield their eyes.

When the light faded, Castiel didn’t turn around but he felt the presence behind him, felt it shift to settle beside him and he longed to turn but held his ground. This was part of his plan; he couldn’t let them know that what they had held over Castiel for so long had almost worked.

“Well hello all,” the presence said, the familiar accent making Castiel swallow.

Zachariah glanced at Castiel and then at the person, for it was a person, behind Castiel and he scowled.

“You think this will stop us? You think the two of you are a match for us?” he spat.

“Not just the two of us,” Castiel said, quirking an eyebrow slightly.

“You forgot about the mudmonkeys,” Dean growled before driving Castiel’s angel knife through minion number one.

Castiel struck out, pushing Zachariah as hard as he could.

“Dean!” he yelled, hand outstretched.

Dean threw the blade through the air and Castiel caught it deftly, spinning it in his hand and driving it into the second angelic crony. He spun to face Zachariah but the older angel didn’t attack.

“The humans have changed you, Castiel. I never knew you could lie so convincingly.”

“Neither did I,” Castiel admitted. “Leave. Now.”

Zachariah didn’t even bristle, didn’t offer a glance of contempt or a slide comeback. He simply disappeared in a flutter of wings.

The air was thick with tension. Dean, Sam and Bobby were confused, sharing glances but not daring to speak.

The tension sparked and crackled.

Castiel finally turned.

“Hello Cassie.”

“Balthazar,” Castiel whispered almost reverently, his voice catching slightly.

The two angels surged towards each other, wrapping their arms around each other and clinging to each other’s jackets. For the first time in what felt like centuries, Castiel let himself cry. The tears slipped down his cheeks and he knew he was shaking slightly. He could hear Balthazar murmuring softly, making soothing noises. He felt Balthazar’s lips press gently against his cheek, then the corner of his mouth before finally pressing softly to his lips. Castiel gripped Balthazar closer and let a small sob break through.

They pulled away slightly, Balthazar’s hands coming up to frame Castiel’s face.

“I thought you were dead,” Castiel whispered.

“It’s ok.”

“They pulled me up to Heaven and told me you were still alive, told me they’d kill you.”

“Cassie, it’s ok.”

“No, you don’t understand. I betrayed them anyway, even though I knew they might kill you.”

“Cassie, you did the right thing. It’s ok.”

Castiel’s eyes shifted to where Dean was stood looking shocked and hurt. Castiel closed his eyes against the sight.

He’d betrayed Balthazar by falling in love with Dean but now that he had Balthazar back in his arms, he was starting to realise that the love he felt for Dean wasn’t quite what he thought.

But he did love Dean and Dean was looking at him like his heart was silently breaking behind that clenched jaw.

“I’m sorry,” Castiel whispered.

He didn’t know who he was talking to, but he knew it was true.


End file.
